We are the whole puzzle

This year, my family has been doing an activity that we haven’t done in awhile.

Putting together jigsaw puzzles.

This is one of those activities that comes and goes. I make it a habit to buy a new puzzle every year to add to our collection, but we often forget about them in the back of the closet.

This year we have renewed our interest in it. I love that it is a passive activity yet it still challenges us. By passive, I mean that we do not have to be sitting down together all at one time doing it (although there are times when we do). But the puzzle sits on a table and when someone gets a desire to work on it, they do.

Looking at one of the puzzles that we did this year, I was struck by a thought.

We are a puzzle.

Our lives are one big puzzle.

As we live each moment, some pieces connect right away. Some pieces, we aren’t sure where they go, so we wait for its matching piece to connect. Some pieces are a mystery and some we know right away how they fit. But we don’t see the whole thing until all the pieces are there.

It made me think about all the times that I’ve been surprised when God shows me a new puzzle piece. The reason why the twisty road I took looks straight when I turn around. That part of the puzzle wasn’t done at that time and now it is.

Most importantly is the idea that we often let our pieces define us instead of the whole puzzle.

I need to be more patient while God gives me the pieces. I need to take more joy in seeing how they fit together. I need to stop being just the individual puzzle pieces and, instead, be the whole.

God isn’t finished with me yet.

Do you define your life by the individual pieces? Comment to share your thoughts.